Earthworms can enrich the soil, faster than previously thought
- Nutrient cycling is a process by which nutrients are transferred from the environment to living organisms and back to the environment.
- Usually, nutrient cycling involving soil decomposers, such as earthworms, is slow and cumulative.
- Researchers show that it is possible to have a rapid movement of nitrogen and carbon from earthworms to plants and herbivores.
- They performed two experiments, one under a laboratory and the other in the field.
- Researchers used chemical tracers to monitor the movement of nutrients from earthworms to the soil, plant seedlings, and sap-sucking bugs.
- Nitrogen and carbon derived from the earthworms were obtained by the bugs after only two hours under laboratory conditions, and nitrogen after 24 hours in the field.
- Researchers speculated that the source of this nitrogen and carbon was the earthworms’ labeled mucus on their skin.
- Based on the rapid tracer appearance in herbivores, researchers suggest that an amino acid compound excreted by earthworms may have been involved.
- The results suggest a previously unknown shortcut in the nitrogen and carbon cycle.
Source:
Ganna S. Shutenko, G. S. Shutenko, Walter S. Andriuzzi, W. S. Andriuzzi, Jens Dyckmans, J. Dyckmans, Yu Luo, Y. Luo, Thomas L. Wilkinson, T. L. Wilkinson, & Olaf Schmidt, O. Schmidt. (2022). Rapid transfer of C and N excreted by decomposer soil animals to plants and above-ground herbivores. Soil biology & biochemistry, 166, 108582. doi: 10.1016/j.soilbio.2022.108582
